Naked - WenDip week prompt
by oxsugarxcoatedxo
Summary: For Wendip Week back in April. Wendy's acting very stranger and Dipper is determined to get to the bottom of it. Is Wendy ready to reveal her inner turmoil?


This has been on my computer ever since WenDip week back in April as I host the event on tumblr. wasn't letting me upload this, so I just forgot to upload it until now! I just had to change browsers to upload it.

Anyways enjoy!

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Rain fell softly upon the windowpanes of the small wooden shack that sat snugly in the woods of Gravity Falls, grey clouds covering the skies of the small town. The only occupants of the shack were currently a tall and lanky red head as well as a small brunette boy. Dipper, the young boy, was currently sweeping the gift shop. Grunkle Stan was currently showing a tour group, Soos was fixing something in the shack, and Mabel was upstairs in their room.

Dipper dared not look up from his task at hand, even though he wanted to so badly glance at the red head that was not even five feet away from him. He had no idea what was wrong with the girl. Ever since Wendy had arrived to work the air just felt thick. He couldn't quite explain it. He didn't know what he felt, but all he knew was that it felt wrong.

Sure, Wendy didn't come to work in a lively spirit (what teenager did?) but she usually at least talked to him or his sister. However, this time, Wendy had uncharacteristically trudged into the shack, head hung low and eyes downcast. She hung up her raincoat and went to her post behind the register. She had given them a few hellos when they had greeted her, but aside from that and her talking to customers, the girl didn't say much.

Dipper had mentioned it to his great uncle, but Stan had told him to leave it alone. Even Soos had said the same (albeit a little less rude). Clearly the two knew something that he did not. And he was going to find out.

When the girl on his mind suddenly let out a cough, he practically jumped out of his skin. Instead he tightly gripped the broom between his hands and he jerked his brown eyes over to the girl. She was still hunched over as her green eyes skimmed through a magazine.

He could feel his hands begin to dampen with perspiration as he broke out into a sweat. If something were wrong, she would tell him…right? He chewed on his lip, brows furrowed. It wasn't like they had known each other very long, but Dipper liked to think that the two of them were close.

But…he thought, Wendy wasn't the type to dump her problems on someone. Responsibilities, maybe, but personal problems she never revealed. In fact, Dipper could hardly ever recall a time when Wendy talked about anything personal and that was just how she was. She kept up this façade, he realized. That she was cool and collected and could handle it herself. He recalled what she had said in the Society of the Blind Eye's hide away.

But didn't she know he was there? Didn't she know that she didn't have to handle whatever it was alone?

He squeezed the wooden handle, knuckles now turning white. This was it.

He licked his suddenly chapped lips.

"Okay! T. that's it!"

The sudden break in silence surprised the girl and she jerked her head up, brows raised at the boy, "…Dipper?"

He walked right up to the register, head raised in determination. This was it. He had already broken the silence and grabbed her attention. Unfortunately for him, he was beginning to lose confidence.

He gulped under her confused stare, cheeks flushed, "I. I know it's not my place to intrude, but I know something is wrong. And I want to be able to help, but I can't help if you don't tell me. And I like to think that we're close you know?" he desperately looked up into her green eyes, but her face remained expressionless so he continued on.

"M. maybe that was just me getting my hopes up, but I want to be able to help you, Wendy. I want to lend you an ear to talk to. I. I may not understand exactly what is going on and I may not be able to fix it, but I've been told I'm a pretty good listener…" he scratched the back of his neck, his gaze diverting.

"I'm sorry. This was dumb of me and I stepped over my bounds, I shouldn't have said anything." He sighed, head now beginning to lower, "Gah, I'm so stupid. Forget I said anything."

The distraught preteen was about to turn away when a hand reached out and lightly gripped his shoulder. He looked up at the tall girl in front of him.

"Dude…I…" Wendy let out a sigh and shoved some red hair out of her face, "I appreciate that you're worried about me, I do."

He watched Wendy, as her eyes darted towards the door of the shack, as if worried someone would walk in on the two of them. Wendy had dropped the magazine by now, her full attention on the boy in front of her.

She cracked a smile at him as she caught his glance, "I guess…I'm not as good at hiding it as I thought I was, huh?" she asked rhetorically, her voice slightly hitching as if she was struggling to remain calm.

"…Wendy?"

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, Man. I didn't mean to put you through this. To be honest, I didn't even realize I was doing that….I just…" she sat in her seat fully, her shoulders slumped with her chin drawn to her chest. Because her long locks covered her face, Dipper struggled to see what expression was currently drawn on her face.

Suddenly, her shoulders shook and his eyes widened.

Was she…?

She brought a hand up to her mouth, trying to silence the sobs that threatened to escape. Wendy harshly swallowed, forcing the sob back down.

"S…sometimes…I…" she released a shaky breath, her hands moving to wipe her face as she lifted her head back up to look at him. Her eyes glistened with tears and Dipper watched her, his heart squeezing in pain. Wendy never shed tears. She only ever shed tears in front of him once and that was because of Jerk Robbie breaking her heart.

"I just get so overwhelmed, Man…." Shaking her head, she continued, "It's normal, ya know? I should be used to it by now. I mean, I've been living this way for a few years now, it's nothing new."

The stool she sat on, squeaked against the floor in protest as she stood up. Her hands instantly gripped the counter edge, as if keeping her grounded. Her toes dug into the inside of her muddy boots, trying to keep her bearings. She knew if she slipped, she would lose it. She would completely let go and she couldn't do that.

She couldn't lose it in front of him. He didn't deserve that. He hardly even knew her.

"W…Wendy it's okay…" he tried to console her.

She continued, "Days like these…." She cleared her throat, "It's days like these that I remember…."

She recalled the events that had happened earlier that dreary morning and her grip on the counter began to shake, she looked down at her hands. Her vision blurred slightly as she felt the tears beginning to threaten to spill once again.

'No. I can't let go.' She thought to herself in protest. However, no matter how hard she fought she realized the harsh reality of it whether she wanted to accept it or not.

She was slipping. She was going to fall.

How had this happened?

She thought she was doing fine.

Whatever she was holding in, burst through and she finally broke.

A heavy sob shook through her body and she collapsed onto the floor behind the counter. Her entire body convulsed as the sobs over took her and she wrapped her arms around her body, bringing her knees to her chest.

This wasn't supposed to happen, she thought to herself. How had this happened? She never exposed herself like this before.

Dipper quickly dropped the broom in his hands, not even thinking as he darted behind the counter to comfort his main squeeze. Seeing her break like that, it terrified him. Whatever had happened or whatever was bothering her, it had to be big.

"Wendy!" he cried as he fell to his knees beside her, his arms reaching out to grab her. Should he though? Should he try to console her? He was the one that brought it up and forced it out of her.

Oh man, he felt like a jerk now.

She struggled to breath, her face buried in her arms now as she cried. The poor guy beside her was probably panicking, she thought. Now that the floodgates had been unleashed, she owed him an explanation. Slowly, she brought her head up out of her arms as she forced the sobs back down.

Removing her signature trapper hat, she set it beside her and released a breath. Her back was now against the wooden stand of the register as she looked at him.

"Wendy….what's going on…?" he asked her, deciding it would be safe to place his hands in his lap as he sat beside her.

She closed her eyes, feeling her eyelids were far too heavy and it was far too exhausting to try to keep them open, "My mother…" she began, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

Dipper's interest peaked at that. Wendy never talked about her mother and he just assumed it was best not to ask. Besides it wasn't like it was any of his business.

"Tomorrow it will be three years…" she murmured, "Three years that we've been living without her. Three years we've been going on like nothing ever happened."

Dark lashes fluttered open as she looked at the boy sitting beside her, "It will be three years that I've pretended…"

She groaned, bringing a hand to her forehead as if in pain, "I just don't understand. Why? Why does it have to keep hurting? You would think I would get used to it. That I would be over it." She sighed.

"That thing I said..." she began, holding his gaze, "When we were captured by those Blind Eye guys or whatever?"

Dipper nodded. He remembered. It was scary for all of them. They all thought they were going to have their memories stripped away and be thrown back out into the town, blissfully unaware of what had happened.

"I wasn't lying, Dude." She cracked a smile at him, but it quickly fell, "It gets…exhausting. Ever since she left…" she shook her head, a frown now forming on her freckled face, "I've had to be the one to try to keep the peace in our house."

"Like this morning, for instance. My Dad was gone and my brothers had completely wrecked the house." She explained, groaning, "How in the world they had managed that so quickly, I have no clue. And of course I was the one that had to clean it because they have no respect for me. Why would they? I'm only their older sister. I'm not their mother."

"I'm the one that cleans the house. I'm the one that cooks the food. I'm the one that makes sure my three idiot brothers don't get themselves killed while my Dad is off doing who even knows what!" her voice began to raise and she gripped her hair, "And it's not fair. It's not fair that I was forced to grow up because I…I can't do this. I can't keep doing this."

She squeezed her eyes shut and her hands gripped tighter in her long locks and she tugged as she tried to gather her thoughts. However, soft and slightly clammy fingers gently prying her fingers away from her tight grip caused her to snap her eyes back open and she turned to see Dipper removing her death grip on her own hair.

"You're right Wendy…that's not fair." He began softly, taking one of her hands in his as he held her gaze, "And I honestly can not imagine what it would be like to lose a parent and then be forced to grow up so quickly…" he shook his head.

"But even if I don't understand or can't quite possibly begin to understand, doesn't mean that I can't sympathize. You shouldn't hold onto this stuff on your own, Wendy. I know you want everyone to believe you're cool and you can do everything on your own, but we're only human." He told her.

Her eyes were wide now. How did he sound so wise while at the same time, still managed to be so….so young…? Once again, this boy in front of her continued to amaze her.

"Wendy, I'm sorry you've had to go through this and you've had to live like this for three years." He continued, "But you don't have to continue doing this alone. You have people that care about you."

"I care about you."

And she knew that. She knew her little guy cared about her. But maybe she didn't truly realize just how much he cared about her. Maybe she didn't realize how much he truly loved her.

And it was then that Wendy realized that Dipper had somehow wormed himself in. He had somehow managed to knock down her walls. Walls that she had so carefully spent time putting up for the past three years.

How had he managed to see through it? How was he able to read her so well when she could hardly even read herself? How did he know that she…she needed this.

Wendy needed this.

She needed this companionship that Dipper was offering her, whether she had realized it or not. Sure, she tried countless times to go into things on her own because that's how she was raised. She was a Corduroy and Corduroys were strong, independent, and could handle things on their own.

But she was also human, just like he had said.

How was it that this twelve year old that she had known for less than three months was able to tell her what she had needed to hear without even asking?

His hand now gripped hers as he kept his gaze upon her, trying to read her. Trying to read whatever was running through her mind.

And as she returned the soft squeeze of his hands upon hers, she realized something.

She…she felt naked.

She couldn't tell if she feared it…or if she wanted to embrace it.

For the first time in years, her guard was down and she didn't have to keep up this act. She didn't have to pretend like everything was okay. She didn't have to be brave. And he didn't call her a coward. He didn't run away from her.

Dipper sat there with her.

She felt another sob beginning to bubble in her throat as her hands shook in his and she squeezed her eyes shut, tears painfully prickling at her lids.

"It's okay Wendy." He softly reassured her, "Sometimes, it's better to cry."

And that's what she did.

The sob escaped her and she ended up throwing herself into his arms, crying into his hold as he wrapped his small arms around her frame and consoled her.

How had this happened?

How had he so easily broken in and gotten pass all her barriers?

The tears relentlessly continued streaming down her cheeks as the cries caused her body to tremble.

She cried because she missed her.

She missed having her there.

She missed going into her room at night and letting her comb her hair.

She missed having her pick her up in her arms and swing her around, laughing brightly as she held her.

She missed lying in bed with her in her own bedroom as she fought the fogginess of sleep as the voice of her mother put her to sleep.

She missed the emerald green of her eyes.

She missed the warmth of her hugs.

She missed the tenderness of her mother's kisses.

Wendy's arms slowly wrapped around the boy that held her and she continued to weep. And he continued to hold her.

And he would continue to hold her.

And he wasn't going anywhere.

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WenDip week for summer runs from July 25th to July 31st!

1\. Codes

2\. Dance

3\. Roadtrip

4\. Dream

5\. Warmth

6\. Her Hero/His Heroine

7\. Seductive


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